Device for attaching objects to fabric

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides an apparatus which facilitates attachment of objects to fabrics of various thicknesses while minimizing damage to the underlying fabric. A device is provided which includes a backing member formed from a flexible, resilient material which is shaped to surround and engage a majority of the periphery of an object to be attached to fabric. The backing member has an inner peripheral wall and an outer peripheral wall opposite the inner peripheral wall. At least one continuous discontinuity passes through both the inner and the outer peripheral walls allowing the backing member to expand in order to receive objects of various size. Another aspect of the present invention provides a tensioning device which serves to bias the backing member into contact with the fabric and the object.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to devices used to attach objects tofabric. More particularly, the invention relates to a device which canbe used to attach objects to fabrics of various thicknesses withoutdamaging the fabric.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is often desirable to attach various accessories and devices toclothing. For example, it is desirable to attach accessories such asjewelry to clothing for the purpose of displaying the accessory. It isalso often desirable to attach a device to clothing for a specialpurpose. For example, individuals in the medical profession (such asdentists, hygienists, doctors, and nurses) and other professions usingprotective clothing (for example, fire and rescue personnel) commonlyuse gloves or long-sleeved exterior clothing which would obscure a watchworn on the person's wrist. It is therefore sometimes desirable toattach a watch to the exterior of a person's clothing to give the personready access to the watch without having to remove gloves or pull back acovering sleeve of a garment. Different types of attaching means havebeen invented for this purpose. An example of such an attaching means isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,877 .

The attaching devices known in the art, however, suffer from severaldeficiencies. First, many of the attaching devices harm the fabric theyare attach to by puncturing the fabric or permanently altering thefabric. Neither of these results is desirable because it is expectedthat a person may desire to attach a device to fabric on certainoccasions and not on other occasions. It is undesirable to have thefabric damaged so that the fabric could not be worn without a deviceattached to cover up any permanent mark made by the attaching device.

Yet another deficiency of the known devices is that they are unable toadapt to fabric of various thicknesses. For example, many of the knowndevices rely on wedging fabric between the object to be attached to thefabric and some structure located behind the fabric. Typically, the gapbetween the object and the structure located behind the fabric will onlyaccommodate a small range of fabric thicknesses. If the gap is maderelatively large to accommodate thick fabrics, it will not hold anobject on thinner fabrics. Likewise, a gap which accommodates a thinfabric will not be able to accept a thicker fabric. It is thereforedesirable to have a device for attaching objects to fabrics of a greaterrange of thicknesses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an apparatus well-suited for attachingobjects while minimizing any damage to the underlying fabric. Thepresent invention also facilitates attachment of objects to fabrics ofvarious thicknesses.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a device is providedwhich enables attaching an object to fabric. The device includes abacking member formed from a flexible, resilient material which isshaped to surround and engage a majority of the periphery of an objectto be attached to fabric. At least a portion of fabric is interposedbetween the backing member and the object. The backing member has aninner peripheral wall which contacts at least a portion of the fabricwhen the object is pressed into said backing member. The backing memberalso has an outer peripheral wall opposite the inner peripheral wall.The backing member also has at least one continuous discontinuitythrough the inner and the outer peripheral walls which allows thebacking member to expand in order to receive objects of various size.The backing member has a peripheral dimension such that when the objectand the backing member are aligned on opposite sides of a fabric andpressed together, the fabric is held in place by compression between thebacking member and the object.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a device isprovided which also includes a tensioning device which serves to biasthe backing member into contact with the fabric and the object.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the tensioningdevice is disposed in a partial indentation on the outer peripheral wallof the backing member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the deviceincludes retaining members which are substantially “L” shaped and whichextend from the outer peripheral wall to form a trough which retains atensioning device in cooperation with the outer peripheral wall of thebacking member.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the “L” shapedretaining members may extend from the outer wall in a manner such thatthe troughs alternate between a position in which the opening of saidtrough faces toward the direction of insertion of the object andopposite the direction of insertion of the object.

In a sixth aspect of the present invention, a device for attaching anobject to fabric is provided which includes a backing member formed froma flexible, resilient material and shaped to surround a majority of theperiphery of an object to be attached to fabric with at least a portionof fabric interposed between the backing member and the object. Thebacking member has a generally annular shape, defined by an inner wall,an outer wall, and a height. The height is of sufficient measurement toreceive and hold the object. The backing member has at least onediscontinuity coextensive through its inner wall and outer wall, orannular shape, allowing the backing member to expand in order to receiveobjects of various size when the object and the backing member arealigned on opposite sides of a fabric and pressed together such that atleast a portion of the fabric is held in place between the backingmember and the object.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention a device isprovided wherein the annular shape of the backing member has a partialindentation on said inner wall for engaging the object.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed descriptionand the included drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a backing member of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a backing member of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a backing member of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan of a backing member of the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along line A—A in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of an object of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of an object of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In general, a device according to the present invention is used toattach an object to the fabric by placing the backing member of thedevice on one side of a piece of fabric and aligning the object to beattached on the opposite side of the fabric from the backing member. Theobject to be attached to the fabric is then pressed into the fabric andthe receiving backing member. The compressive force exerted by thebacking member holds the object on the fabric. Unlike other deviceswhich may hold objects in place on fabric, the present invention has theability to expand and adapt to a greater range of fabric widths. Inaddition, by varying the compressive force exerted by the backingmember, damage to fabric may be avoided. Specific embodiments of thepresent invention are discussed below with reference to the drawings.

According to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1-4,a device for attaching an object to fabric is provided which includes abacking member (11). The backing member is formed from a flexible,resilient material. A wide variety of materials are acceptable, such asplastics, rubber, or even resilient flexible metals. The materialforming the backing member (11) should be sufficiently flexible to allowthe backing member (11) to stretch to receive an object and the fabricaccompanying the object. The material selected should be sufficientlyresilient that is attempts to return to its original shape and exertssome degree of force against an object preventing the backing member(11) from returning to its original shape. This resiliency allows thebacking member (11) to contact the fabric and hold both the object andthe fabric by means of the compressive force exerted by the resiliencyof the backing member (11). Nylon is a material that has been found toexhibit the necessary flexibility and resiliency to practice thisembodiment of the present invention, and is the preferred material formaking the invention. It is expected, however, that one of ordinaryskill in the art would know how to select materials with the necessaryresiliency for a particular use of the present invention.

The backing member (11) should be formed in a shape which will surroundand engage a majority of the periphery of an object to be attached tofabric. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-4, the backingmember is formed in a generally circinate to surround an object which isalso generally circinate. An example of such an object (30) is shown inFIGS. 6 and 7. Although the preferred embodiment shown illustrates acircinate form, it is expected that there are objects of manygeometrical shapes which a backing member may be formed to receive.

As noted above, it is not necessary for the backing member to surroundall of the object to be received, it is only necessary that it receive asufficient amount of the circumference of the object to enable thebacking member (11) to hold the object in place. The amount of theobject that must be surrounded in order to hold it in place will, ofcourse, depend on the shape of the object and the flexibility andresiliency of the backing member (11).

Fabric is disposed between the object to be held in place and thebacking member so that the object is held in place on the fabric. Often,the fabric will surround both the inner perimeter of the backing memberand the outer perimeter of the object to be held. However, this is notnecessary for practice of the present invention. It is possible to holdan object in place when only a portion of the supporting fabric isdisposed between the object and the backing member. It is thus possiblefor the present invention to hold an object, for example, at the end ofa piece of clothing such as the end of a sleeve of a shirt, where only aportion of the clothing fabric is placed between the backing member andthe object to be attached.

As seen in FIGS. 1 through 4, the backing member (11) has an innerperipheral wall (13) which contacts at least a portion of the fabric towhich the object is to be attached when the object is pressed into saidbacking member. The inner peripheral wall (13) is of a sufficient height(h) that is will be able to surround a sufficient portion of the objectto hold the object in position on the fabric. The backing member (11)also has an outer peripheral wall (15) opposite the inner peripheralwall (13). As shown in FIG. 5, the inner peripheral wall (13) has thesame height as the outer peripheral wall (15).

The backing member (11) of the present invention also includes at leastone continuous discontinuity (17) through both the inner and outerperipheral walls of the backing member. This discontinuity (17)increases the flexibility of the backing member and allows it to accepta greater range of fabric thicknesses because a backing material made ofa given material will generally be able to expand to a greater degreethan would be possible if the discontinuity (17) were not present. Abacking member (11) with a discontinuity (17) is also generally able toconform to different shapes than one without a discontinuity.Additionally, by varying the resiliency of the backing member (11), thebacking member (11) may be made such that it will not damage materialswhich are placed between the backing member (11) and the object to beattached. Selection of different construction materials and shapes forthe backing member would make alteration of the backing memberresiliency possible. As noted above, the backing member (11) should bemade of such peripheral dimension that when an object and the backingmember are aligned on opposite sides of a piece of fabric and pressedtogether, the fabric is held in place by compression between the backingmember and the object.

The backing member (11) of the present invention may also be describedas having a generally annular shape, defined by an inner wall (13), anouter wall (15), and a height (h). The height (h) is of sufficientmeasurement to receive and hold the object. The backing member (11) hasat least one discontinuity (17) coextensive through its inner wall (13)and outer wall (15), or annular shape. The discontinuity (17) allows thebacking member (11) to expand in order to receive objects of varioussize. To attach an object to a piece of fabric, the object and thebacking member (11) are aligned on opposite sides of a fabric andpressed together such that at least a portion of the fabric is held inplace between the backing member and the object.

In a preferred embodiment of the instant invention, a tensioning device(19) is employed in conjunction with the backing member to more securelyhold the object to the fabric. Types of tensioning devices (19) includebands made of rubber or similarly resilient material, metal rings havinga closing spring force, and connectors made of rubber which connect theparts of the backing member across the discontinuities in the backingmember.

The tensioning device (19) may be attached to the backing member in manydifferent ways. For example, a partial indentation could be formed onthe outer peripheral wall of the backing member which would then receiveand hold the tensioning device in place using the force of thetensioning device itself. Alternatively, in a preferred embodiment whichis illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the backing member could be formedsuch that a series of “L” shaped troughs (21) extend from the outerperipheral wall thus forming a trough to receive the tensioning device.In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, the “L” shapedmembers alternate between having an opening which faces in the directionof insertion of the object (D) and facing in the opposite direction. Asection illustrating the trough which faces away from the direction ofinsertion of the device to be held (D) is shown in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an object (30) which may be held in place by thebacking member of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1-5. Many typesof designs may be imprinted onto the face (32) of the object (30).Alternatively, pictures and similar types of items may be applied to theface (32) of the object. In a preferred embodiment of the invention,items such as clocks and medallions may be shaped in the form of theobject (30) itself and be held in place by the backing member (11).

FIGS. 5 and 7 also show that a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention incorporates a backing member (11) which has a protrusion (23)at some point on the inner surface (13) of the backing member (11). Thisprotrusion (23) cooperates with the indentation (34) of the object to beheld in place on the fabric by the backing member (11). Although it ispreferred to incorporate the illustrated protrusion (23) and indentation(34) into the present invention, it is not necessary in order topractice the invention.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings. It should therefore beunderstood that within the scope of the invention as defined by theclaims below, the invention may be practiced other than in the specificmanner and embodiments described above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for attaching an object to fabric,comprising: a backing member formed from flexible, resilient material,and shaped to surround and engage a majority of the periphery of anobject to be attached to fabric with at least a portion of fabricinterposed between the backing member and an object to be receivedtherein; an inner peripheral wall on said backing member for contactingat least a portion of fabric when said object is pressed into saidbacking member, and an outer peripheral wall on said backing memberopposite said inner peripheral wall, and having a partial indentationfor receiving a tensioning device therein; at least one continuousdiscontinuity through said inner and said outer peripheral walls forallowing said backing member to expand for receiving objects of varioussizes; a tensioning device receivable in said partial indentation forbiasing said backing member into contact with fabric and an object whenfabric and object are received by said backing member; and said backingmember having a peripheral dimension such that when an object and saidbacking member are aligned on opposite sides of fabric and pressedtogether, the fabric is held in place by compression between saidbacking member and an object and fabric when received therein.
 2. Adevice according to claim 1, further comprising retaining members whichare substantially “L” shaped extending from said outer wall to form atrough for retaining said tensioning device in cooperation with saidouter wall of said backing member.
 3. A device according to claim,wherein said “L” shaped retaining members extend from said outer wall ina manner such that said troughs alternate between a position in whichthe opening of said trough faces toward the direction of insertion ofsaid object and the direction opposite the direction of insertion ofsaid object.
 4. A device according to claim 1 wherein said tensioningdevice is a flexible “O” ring.
 5. A device for attaching an object tofabric according to claim 1, further comprising an object shaped forbeing retained in contact with said backing member as a result ofcompression between said backing member and said object.
 6. A device forattaching an object to fabric, comprising: a backing member formed fromflexible, resilient material, and shaped to surround a majority of theperiphery of an object to be attached to fabric with at least a portionof fabric interposed between the backing member and an object to bereceived therein; said backing member having a generally an annularshape, defined by an inner wall, and an outer peripheral wall, thebacking member having a height sufficient for receiving and holding anobject therein, the inner wall having a convex partial indentation forengaging an object to be received therein, and the outer peripheral wallfurther comprising a partial indentation for receiving a tensioningdevice; a tensioning device receivable in said partial indentation forbiasing said backing member into contact with fabric and an object whenreceived therein; and at least one continuous discontinuity coextensivethrough said inner wall and said outer peripheral wall which define saidannual shape, for allowing said backing member to expand for receivingobjects of various sizes in said backing member when an object and saidbacking member are aligned on opposite sides of fabric and pressedtogether for holding at least a portion of fabric in place between saidbacking member and an object, when fabric and an object are received insaid backing member.
 7. A device according to claim 6 further comprisingretaining members for holding said tensioning device, which extend fromsaid outer wall of said backing member, and said retaining members beinggenerally “L” shaped and forming a trough for retaining said tensioningdevice in cooperation with said outer wall of said backing member.
 8. Adevice according to claim wherein said “L” shaped retaining membersextend from said outer wall in a manner such that said trough alternatesbetween a position in which the opening of said trough faces toward thedirection of insertion of said object and the direction opposite thedirection of insertion of said object.
 9. A device for attaching anobject to fabric according to claim 6, further comprising an objectshaped for being retained in contact with said backing member as aresult of compression between said backing member and said object.
 10. Adevice according to claim 6 wherein said tensioning device is a flexible“O” ring.